The majority of new condominium construction is driven by investor demand – not demand from families – and investors are willing to pay much more (on a ppsf basis) than end users are. Investors also prefer smaller units because they are less expensive and typically have a better return on investment than larger units. Because of this, the price that developers are paying for land is based on what investors are willing to pay for condos which explains why its hard for them to build affordable family-sized condos.

One thousand dollars. That’s the new cost, on average, per square foot for a new build condo in the heart of Canada’s largest city. It’s a shocking 30 per cent increase, per square foot, year-over-year in Toronto. A price point which is here to stay, according to Urbanation, the company that compiled the third quarter report.

Up-sizing young families and downsizing seniors are about to converge on a Toronto-region housing market that isn’t sufficiently prepared to accommodate their needs in terms of space and affordability.

Many would elbow their way into some of the region’s established, amenity-rich neighbourhoods if there were more affordable housing options, according to a survey of 18- to 39-year-olds for the Toronto Region Board of Trade.

One recent survey by Fortress Developments showed a roughly even split among respondents on the question of whether government should try to control house prices in Toronto, decide how many Toronto houses can be sold, and who can buy them. Is there something so special about Toronto real estate that it destroys the logic of the marketplace, and makes people yearn for the sector to be government-run?

Prices in Toronto, for example, rose by 32% in the year to April. It joined Vancouver in slapping a 15% tax on purchases by foreigners—a bid to stem price increases that many Canadians blame on the influx of capital fleeing China.

“The single-family home and plex markets are becoming increasingly favourable to sellers, as selling times for these property categories are falling,” said Mathieu Cousineau, president of the Greater Montreal Real Estate Board.

The New Democrat government has said it’s reviewing transaction data along with the foreign buyers tax and an interest-free loan program for first-time homebuyers in an effort to decide whether such measures should be kept, revised or scrapped altogether.

Reagan reckoned that home ownership brought “stability and rootedness”. That may be so, but it also brings rigid labour markets. Yet few politicians are willing to praise the merits of renting. Thatcher’s and Reagan’s housing reforms were thought to be driven by a fear of a slow creep of socialism. They would look enviously at Russia today. Home ownership rates in Britain and America have fallen in recent years; Russia’s has increased by 30 percentage points in two decades.

These days, Detroit is still struggling to recover from the 2008 financial crisis, and the two banks have pledged to help resuscitate the city and its crippled housing market. So, guess how many home mortgage loans these two enormous banks made last year in this city of 637,000 people. Bank of America made 18. JPMorgan did just six.

The survey made no reference to politics, but a number of European elections in the past years have shown a rising anger among voters at what is perceived as a growing gap between the haves and have-nots.

Finally, it’s happening. After years of discussion, London’s Oxford Street is being pedestrianized. A key London axis known for its huge popularity as a place to shop—and its equally huge pollution problem—Oxford Street has endured for years as a notorious fume trap because it’s such a vital corridor for buses. As you might imagine, tidying up has been a logistical headache. But if it works here, the plan could become a template for any city that wants to turn a busy thoroughfare into car-free zone.